A loud rumble echoed in the middle of the night.
A massive boulder plummeted from the sky and crashed into an empty space of a remote village in the southeastern region. The small village trembled as the sky swayed and the ground shocked, resembling an ox turning underneath the earth [1]. Some primitive wooden houses couldn’t withstand such an impact and collapsed instantly.
[1] 地牛翻身 – According to a folk tale, earthquakes are caused by the occasional movements of an ox that lives under the earth (a Taiwanese phrase).
The people in the village were startled awake by the loud noise. Unaware of what had happened, they peered their heads out of their windows, but the dust and sand outside were so dense that nothing could be seen. Unease and restlessness filled their hearts.
When the visibility was finally a little clearer, a few brave people carrying lanterns hurriedly ventured out to investigate.
It turned out that the huge boulder protruding from the mountainside had somehow fallen and smashed out a large crater on the farmland’s ground. Fortunately, the boulder had landed on this spot; had it smashed on the village, the consequences would have been disastrous.
Before they could feel relieved, they heard a sudden sound of surprise from nearby, “There’s, there’s someone on the boulder ……”
Everyone raised their heads, and in the gradually dispersing dust and mist, they saw a young man with black hair and black clothes sitting atop the boulder, gazing down at them. Despite being alone, the young man carried an inexplicable and powerful aura, filling those below with a sense of awe and fear.
Ordinary human eyes cannot see spiritual familiars, but if they could, they would see a giant golden dragon bound by iron chains encircling the young man.
The young man’s expression was cold and aloof, remaining silent, his gaze devoid of any warmth as he stared down at the people below.
Amongst the villagers, some seemed to recognise the identity of this young man; they trembled, took a step back, then hurriedly ran towards the village, shouting, “It’s the demon…the demon Bai Chen has come…!”
It is unclear when it began, but people with extraordinary abilities started to emerge among humans. Their appearance was regarded as heresy and seen as the harbingers of immense change awaiting the world. Amidst all living beings, only humans experienced such extraordinary transformations, and nobody knew why. Decades later, scientists referred to this phenomenon as humanity’s “Second Evolution” or “Awakening”; it is said that this was the initial origin of the Sentinels and Guides.
As the night came to an end, Wen Xiu remained oblivious to the catastrophic changes that had occurred in the village.
A corner of the house where Wen Xiu lived with his foster parents had collapsed, evidently shaken by the loud sound in the middle of the night. Wen Xiu lived in the attic, where a portion of the ceiling had shattered, as a result, huge amounts of dust and debris rushed into the room. He paid no attention to the state of his room nor the disturbance outside; instead, he immediately ran downstairs to check if his foster parents were injured.
Wen Xiu was abandoned as a baby; eighteen years ago, he was heartlessly abandoned by his biological parents in the mountains. He was taken in and raised by an elderly couple. Despite the lack of blood ties, the elderly couple, who remained childless for many decades, showered Wen Xiu with an abundance of affection. Wen Xiu is obedient and respectful and doesn’t mind their age gap. He treated the elderly couple as if they were his biological parents. Now that he has grown up and his adoptive parents have grown old, the roles seem to have reversed, and he feels it is his duty to take care of them.
Once he had ensured that his adoptive parents were safe and sound, he returned to his room and began tidying it and using wood to mend the cracks in the corner. He worked through the night and persisted until drawn before he finally went to sleep.
However, upon waking up, the atmosphere in the village had changed. He noticed that the villagers’ faces all showed expressions of unease while they were engaged in discussions about the “demon.”
Even in a remote place like this, Wen Xiu had heard of the name “Bai Chen”. It is said that since he became a demon, he has been roaming outside and leading a vagrant life. Wherever he went, a trail of bloody chaos would follow, causing unease and restlessness among the people.
When it all started, people called those with supernatural abilities “demons” out of fear of the unknown powers they possessed, coupled with rumours that demons would bring about destruction, which eventually brewed and expanded this uneasy emotion into a powerful backlash.
Wen Xiu had never seen other demons, but to come to such a remote and isolated village that is seemingly disconnected from the rest of the world, Bai Chen may be the first.
Wen Xiu, carrying a wooden bucket, headed to the village’s underground well to fetch water. Along the way, he overheard that the demon planned to take up residence in their village. Several villagers huddled around the village chief, speaking in hushed tones, seemingly discussing how they could drive away the demon, wanting the village chief to devise a plan. Wen Xiu wasn’t too curious, as he had never been particularly sensitive to such matters and preferred to avoid trouble whenever possible.
On his way to the well, he passed by the farmland where the fallen boulder had created a large crater. He found many villagers gathered around the boulder, observing the scene. That huge boulder had stood on the cliff’s edge for years, weathered by wind and rain. The villagers had initially been worried that the boulder would roll down one day and cause harm to the village. The village chief had even previously ordered men from the village to move the boulder, but unfortunately, no matter their efforts, they could not move it. Unexpectedly, just as Bai Chen arrived, the boulder came tumbling down. The rumour that the demon will bring destruction is indeed true.
Several people stood in front of the boulder, talking all at once, but they seemed afraid the demon would hear them, so they lowered their voices and whispered as they discussed.
Wen Xiu stood before the boulder and looked towards the distant mountainside. The bare cliffs showed traces of loose soil and rocks that had slid down. Not long ago, there was a downpour of heavy rain, and then the days shortly after were filled with bright, sunny, clear skies. Judging by the path the boulder took when it fell, it was indeed a stroke of extraordinary luck that it landed on the farmland. No one considered that the demon might have saved them rather than caused them harm.
Wen Xiu contemplated those rumours and felt that they were not completely true. Just then, he heard a sound, as if something was calling out to him.
He followed the source of the sound and turned his gaze. On a rooftop to the east of the village, directly above the warehouse, he faintly saw a stream of gold-coloured air swirling, gathering and dispersing apart. Although he could identify what it was, he felt the moving streams of glowing gas resembled clouds.
“What is that?” he pointed to the top of the warehouse, and everyone present looked at Wen Xiu in confusion. Surprisingly, no one could actually see it.
At that moment, Bai Chen, who was sitting alone resting in the warehouse, was abruptly pulled back to reality from his wandering state [2]. He sensed Jin Long [3] struggling as if trying to break free from the iron chain and rush towards an unknown direction. The constraint placed on his spiritual familiar allowed him to diminish his power to the lowest point. This was the final protective measure he had taken to prevent himself from becoming completely trapped in the spiritual realm, unable to return.
[2] 神游 “wandering state”: When Sentinels fully concentrate their attention on one of their five senses, they lose the ability to focus on anything else around them apart from the target. They may become permanently trapped in their own spiritual realm, losing contact with the outside world. At such times, they’re unable to perceive danger, resulting in the deaths of many Sentinels (from an explanation provided by the author).
[3] 金龙 “jīn lóng – golden dragon”: The term 金龙, meaning “golden dragon”, refers to the spiritual familiar of Bai Chen and this term is used in this novel as both a proper noun and a noun. When it’s used as a proper noun, I have used pinyin to represent this and keep it consistent with the other proper nouns.
For three long years, he has been without the spiritual soothing from a Guide, which has pushed both his mind and body to the brink of their limits. There are still too few awakened humans in the world, so he could only continue to search relentlessly until he found one.
Jin Long’s restlessness and excitement were to convey a message to him; this sensation could be directly transmitted without the need for any speech.
The Guide he had spent a long time searching for turned out to be in this village.